68: Chapter 68 Past

The original night instantly turned into day. The abandoned courtyard and small building transformed into a wide avenue, with antique stalls scattered everywhere on both sides. People came and went on the street; it was incredibly bustling.

In the distance, a couple holding hands walked toward them. They seemed unable to see the two of them and walked straight into them.

Liu Wenxuan instinctively tried to dodge, but Lu Siye grabbed his arm. He could only watch helplessly as he was collided with.

The expected impact never came. The couple passed right through them like two phantoms.

A memory playback!

It seemed they had indeed found the right location.

"What's going on?" Liu Wenxuan instinctively felt himself.

Why did those two people pass straight through them instead of bumping into them?

"This is a memory playback of a cursed object. Everything we see is a lingering image of reality that has already occurred," Lu Siye explained.

Although Liu Wenxuan was a bit dazed, his ability to adapt was quite strong. He snapped out of it after a moment and began to observe his surroundings.

"I remember this place. It's the Antique Street in our Tianhai City's North District," Liu Wenxuan suddenly shouted.

"Mhm." Lu Siye nodded. Although he had never been to the Antique Street, he had seen it in short videos before. This was indeed the layout of the Antique Street.

"Boss, how much is this pocket watch?" Suddenly, a gentle voice sounded from behind them.

The two instinctively turned around to look. It was a slender, exquisitely beautiful girl wearing a long dress.

The girl held a tablet in her hands, her jet-black long hair draped over her shoulders. She exuded a sense of classical Eastern beauty.

"Li Sisi!" Upon seeing the girl's appearance clearly, Lu Siye couldn't help but whisper.

Meanwhile, Liu Wenxuan stood frozen in place, completely failing to hear Lu Siye's voice.

He felt as if something had opened in his mind, and a stream of familiar memories surfaced like a flowing spring.

At a roadside stall filled with old-fashioned pocket watches, Li Sisi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, half-squatted, and picked up a pocket watch.

The stall owner was a short, middle-aged man. His features were somewhat distorted, with thin eyebrows and small eyes, and his face often wore a lecherous expression.

Hearing her, the boss looked up. He froze for a moment upon seeing Li Sisi, as if he had never seen such a beautiful girl before.

After snapping out of it, his gaze wandered unscrupulously over Li Sisi's body.

Uncomfortable under his gaze, Li Sisi frowned. She held out the pocket watch and asked again, "Boss, how much is this pocket watch?"

"This one? Beauty, you really have a good eye. This is the best pocket watch I have here. It's a genuine antique from the Republican era."

The boss smilingly took the pocket watch from her hand, taking the opportunity to stealthily touch Li Sisi's palm.

Li Sisi's brow furrowed as a wave of disgust surged in her heart. She quickly let go, took two steps back, and turned to leave.

With a crisp crack, it sounded like something had fallen to the ground.

"Stop!" a furious shout came from behind her.

"What do you want?" Li Sisi turned around, a hint of coldness appearing on her face.

"What do I want? You smashed my pocket watch! That's a Republican era piece, worth at least twelve thousand. Pay up!" The lecherous boss stood up, holding the broken pocket watch and shouting while pointing at Li Sisi's nose.

"That watch clearly broke after you took it. What does it have to do with me?" Li Sisi looked down at the boss.

She had seen it clearly just now; the pocket watch was firmly in his hand. Now, he was actually trying to frame her.

"You clearly dropped it and broke it, and now you want to deny it? Pay up, now!" The boss had an "I've got you" expression.

When he set up his stall, he had intentionally chosen a blind spot for surveillance cameras. Although he had broken the pocket watch himself, as long as the other party couldn't produce evidence, they would have no choice but to pay up.

He had done this several times in other places and was very practiced.

"Wenxuan was right after all. When coming to the Antique Street, one really needs to have a camera on," Li Sisi suddenly said something that left the boss bewildered.

"You... what do you mean?" He suddenly became a bit flustered.

Li Sisi didn't speak; she simply turned the tablet in her hand around. It had been recording video the whole time.

Thud!

The boss immediately fell to his knees and began kowtowing frantically to Li Sisi.

"Miss, I was wrong! I shouldn't have had such wicked thoughts. My child at home is sick, and I only thought of such a rotten way out of desperation!" The boss wailed, covered in snot and tears.

"Hmph! If I catch you using this method again, prepare to rot in jail," Li Sisi snorted coldly and turned to leave.

The scene before them began to blur. When it became clear again, it was already dusk, and the people on the Antique Street had thinned out.

The gray concrete ground was dyed gold by the setting sun. The small alleys by the roadside fell into darkness as the sunlight couldn't reach them.

From an old-fashioned pocket watch shop on the street, Li Sisi walked out with a joyful expression.

In her hand, she held a gift bag containing an exquisite gift box.

It was an old-fashioned Republican era pocket watch she had bought from the shop for over six hundred yuan, intended as a gift for her boyfriend.

At the thought of the silly expression he would make upon receiving her gift, the corners of Li Sisi's mouth couldn't help but turn up, and her pace became much lighter.

The golden sunset spilled over her, making her look like a beautiful little elf.

Just as she passed an alley, a withered hand reached out from within. Holding a folded towel, it pressed tightly against Li Sisi's face.

Instantly, Li Sisi felt her whole body go limp and powerless, her consciousness gradually blurring.

"Sisi!" Liu Wenxuan roared and rushed toward Li Sisi.

However, at that moment, the scene before them suddenly changed.

In the blink of an eye, they arrived inside an abandoned room, and the surroundings darkened.

Lu Siye instinctively looked out the window. It was an abandoned courtyard with a small tree that had long since withered and died. Beside the tree was a water well.

Had the memory playback ended?

Lu Siye reached out and touched the wall, but his hand passed straight through it.

It seemed they were still within the memory playback.

"So damn unlucky!" A voice rang out from next door.

Lu Siye and the other man quickly passed through the wall to the next room.

In the dust-filled room, only one bed was clean.

On the snowy-white bed lay a girl with torn clothes and bruises all over her body.

Large gushes of blood sprayed from the girl's mouth, blooming into a jarring blood flower on the bed.